Sam Altman: “We’re losing money on OpenAI Pro subscriptions”

The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, stated in a post on X that the company is operating at a loss with the Pro subscriptions for ChatGPT, which cost $200 per month, because “people use the tool far more than we anticipated.”

insane thing: we are currently losing money on openai pro subscriptions!

people use it much more than we expected.

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 6, 2025

The publication received all kinds of comments, most of them joking about the claim, or claiming that Altman had already done the math before deciding how much to charge for each of the subscription plans, so the results could not have surprised him.

Responding to these comments Altman said, “No, I personally chose the price and thought we would make money.”

The day before, Altman published a blog post reflecting on the two-year journey of ChatGPT, revisiting the challenges faced during its early development, including his dismissal from his own company. He also outlined OpenAI’s future focus on developing Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—a far more advanced system capable of complex reasoning and transformative contributions to the workforce and scientific discovery.

In search of “Superintelligence”

“Just over a month ago, ChatGPT turned two years old, and we have now entered the next paradigm of models capable of performing complex reasoning. The new year prompts reflection, and I wanted to share some personal thoughts on how things have gone so far and some of the lessons I have learned along the way,” Altman begins in his extensive text.

The CEO then examines the past and present of the company and his role within it, including the frustration he felt on the day he was dismissed, alongside other personal reflections. Toward the end of the article, however, he focuses on the future of artificial intelligence and the company’s plans to create a much more advanced model—AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)—capable of performing tasks far more complex than current systems.

Altman claims that this year, “we will see the first AI agents ‘join the workforce’ and materially change business performance,” though he adds that OpenAI is “starting to aim beyond that (…) Superintelligent tools could dramatically accelerate scientific discovery and innovation far beyond what we can achieve on our own and, in turn, greatly increase abundance and prosperity.”

Anticipating potential criticism, he states, “Right now, this sounds like science fiction and a little crazy even to talk about. That’s okay: we’ve been through this before, and we don’t mind going through it again. We are quite confident that, in the coming years, everyone will see what we see—that the need to act with great care, while maximizing benefits and empowerment, is very important. Given the possibilities of our work, OpenAI cannot be a normal company.”

Sam Altman’s sister accuses him of sexual abuse

In a separate development, Ann Altman, one of Sam Altman’s sisters, has filed a lawsuit against him in the Eastern District of Missouri. She alleges that her brother sexually abused her between 1997 and 2006, beginning when she was three years old, and he was twelve.

Sam Altman responded to the allegations via a post on X, sharing a joint statement from himself, his mother, and his brothers, Jack and Max, denying the accusations and claiming that Ann suffers from mental health disorders. The statement emphasized their intention to address the matter legally.

My sister has filed a lawsuit against me. Here is a statement from my mom, brothers, and me: pic.twitter.com/Nve0yokTSX

— Sam Altman (@sama) January 7, 2025

Photo: Depositphotos